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As Auto Production Roars To New Records, Worldwatch Institute Sounds The Alarmhttp://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/09/as-auto-production-roars-to-new-records-worldwatch-institute-sounds-the-alarm/
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/09/as-auto-production-roars-to-new-records-worldwatch-institute-sounds-the-alarm/#commentsWed, 12 Sep 2012 16:37:12 +0000http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=460058The car industry is slowly getting healthy again (except in Europe.) Worldwide sales are up 6.8 percent so far, and it looks like 81 million units could be sold worldwide this year, as data by LMC Automotive show. This has the Worldwatch Institute up in arms. Basically, it wants us to buy fewer cars and […]

The car industry is slowly getting healthy again (except in Europe.) Worldwide sales are up 6.8 percent so far, and it looks like 81 million units could be sold worldwide this year, as data by LMC Automotive show. This has the Worldwatch Institute up in arms. Basically, it wants us to buy fewer cars and drive them less.

Woldwide Light Vehicle Sales, August 2012

Aug’12

Aug’11

YoY

YTD 2012

YTD 2011

YoY

WORLD

6,335,746

5,888,585

7.6%

53,994,214

50,545,891

6.8%

USA

1,283,046

1,069,843

19.9%

9,692,378

8,446,120

14.8%

CANADA

149,301

140,440

6.3%

1,162,254

1,087,474

6.9%

WESTERN EUROPE

750,781

818,745

-8.3%

8,967,580

9,710,521

-7.7%

EASTERN EUROPE

410,128

379,535

8.1%

3,197,898

3,001,847

6.5%

JAPAN

365,210

325,054

12.4%

3,756,479

2,576,039

45.8%

KOREA

94,706

120,884

-21.7%

963,428

1,026,037

-6.1%

CHINA

1,487,198

1,363,211

9.1%

12,361,487

11,591,521

6.6%

BRAZIL / ARGENTINA

414,959

385,895

7.5%

2,814,658

2,850,770

-1.3%

OTHER

1,380,416

1,284,978

7.4%

11,078,053

10,255,562

8.0%

Source: LMC Automotive

Says Worldwatch Senior Researcher Michael Renner:

“Automobiles are major contributors to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Greater fuel efficiency, along with the use of cleaner fuels, can help mitigate these impacts, although increases in the numbers of cars and the distances driven threaten to overwhelm fuel economy advances.”

Worldwatch singles out China as “the major driver of increased production and sales.” China had the nerve to grow its passenger vehicle fleet “at an annual average rate of 25 percent during 2000-11, from fewer than 10 million cars to 73 million cars,” says Worldwatch.

What the study does not mention: In the U.S., there are 240 million light vehicles on the road. That is one car or light truck per 1.3 people.

Using the Worldwatch number of 73 million cars in China, there would only be one car for 18 Chinese.

Wait until Chinese car ownership reaches the standards of the developed world, that is one car for two people. Chinese car ownership would rise to 673 million cars, or about the same of what we now have on the road in the whole world.